With the number of visitors these sites get each month, that increase is pretty significant: Some current estimates report between 10.5 and 23.8 million unique visitors per month for two major dating sites.

Between 20, the number of people using online dating sites doubled, from 20 million to 40 million, and about one third of America’s single people participated in some sort of online dating last year.

But despite these numbers, it’s unclear if online dating is any more effective than, or really any different from, meeting someone offline.

Of the 13 online daters I talked to for this article, only one believes algorithms can make successful matches. “I don’t believe that an algorithm can match me up, and I don’t want to match me up,” said Jason Feifer.

A senior editor at Fast Company, Feifer met his wife Jennifer Miller, a freelance journalist and author, through Ok Cupid after narrowing his search criteria to two requirements: "Jewish" and "journalist." Feifer and Miller told me they didn’t start using Ok Cupid with the hopes of finding their soulmates.

Instead, both joined the site after ending long-term relationships and moving to a new city without many friends.

They both used the site to meet more people and go on more dates, while using their limited free time efficiently.

In many ways, online dating resembles offline dating — the resulting relationships are no different. So why do so many millions turn to the Web to find love?